Keep up to date with ALL the Chelsea news, gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary by clicking HERE

Doing it with his preferred 3-4-3 system, and winding up the Portuguese former hero of Stamford Bridge in the process, would only have added to Conte’s delight.

Since switching from the back four he inherited to the formation he followed with Juventus and Italy — mid-way through the humbling 3-0 loss at Arsenal last month — Conte has seen his side revitalised.

3

John Terry is set for a return to the Chelsea first team for the EFL Cup tie against West HamCredit: Getty Images

Three games, three wins, nine scored and NONE conceded represents exactly the response the Italian would have wanted.

Sunday’s destruction of United appeared a significant moment in Conte’s reign, as he crushed Mourinho and then defiantly stood his ground in a touchline war of words. But now Chelsea and Conte know they have to show their change is real, not artificially boosted by the teams they have savaged.

Struggling Hull, a Leicester side that has forgotten how to play away from home and Mourinho’s misfiring, self-harming United.